Yoga and Creativity

Tess Needham

Entering a yoga studio, with the caption "My first live yoga class"

Entering the yoga studio (front view) with the caption "It took a pregnancy to get me here."

Unrolling my yoga mat, with the caption "It's not too different to videos..."

A screen showing "Yogatube" with the caption "...But videos hadn't inspired me."

A browser window showing "Prenatal yoga near you" with the cursor clicking on a button that says "book." The caption says "I need something more, and prenatal yoga is the perfect opportunity."

Standing with a yoga mat. The caption says "So, I find myself in a yoga studio with expectant mums."

A row of pregnant people in Warrior 2 pose. The caption says "All trying to work poses around our growing bellies."

In half-moon pose. The caption says "And use the relaxin hormone's full potential."

Sitting cross-legged in easy pose. The caption reads "A new mind-body connection grows."

Still in easy pose, but my head and arms have disconnected from my body. My arms are still connected with strings. The caption reads "Yoga encourages a new way to connect with my body."

Standing in mountain pose. The caption reads "Movement and positions that feel good on the mat"

Pushing a trolley in the supermarket. The caption reads "Also help me move through the world with more ease."

In child's pose, with a baby in happy baby pose on a small blanket in front of me. The caption reads "Even after birth and mummy-baby yoga"

A calendar with days crossed off. The caption reads "The commitment to practice every day brings a new level of connection."

A calendar with "Yoga" written on several consecutive days. The caption reads "Surprisingly, daily yoga is easier to maintain than a less-frequent cadence."

The same calendar with "Yoga" on many days. The caption reads "When every day is 'yoga day,' I don't need to remember a schedule."

Hidden behind my computer, furiously typing. The caption says "Sure, there are days it's hard to make time."

In cobra pose. The caption reads "But on those days, even a sun salutation before bed is enough."

In child's pose on a mat, surrounding by other people on their mats doing child's pose. The caption reads "I've only been to a handful of in-person classes in the past five years."

In child's pose with a screen propped up in front of me. The caption says "I usually practice in the comfort of my own home."

A browser window shows the Yoga With Adriene "Yogatube" channel. The caption reads: "Via "Yoga With Adriene," she guides us through poses with kindness."

In goddess pose. The caption says "Through these videos, I discover the connection of yoga and creativity."

In yoga, I create stillness, connect to my body, listen to myself, and express myself.

In easy pose on a hill. The caption reads "I create by filtering various inputs by who I am, then expressing it."

In easy pose. The caption reads "Through yoga practice, I tend to my needs, connect with my creativity"

A close-up of my brain. The caption reads "Like in art practice, by connecting with myself, I discover true expression."

Yoga offers the opportunity to express my creativity physically.

In downward-facing dog pose. The caption reads "The asana are defined. Like art, it's important to learn the foundations."

In star pose, inside a box. The caption reads "These foundations are the constraints that creativity thrives in."

In tree pose, in a river. The caption says "Then, I have freedom to explore creatively within the form."

In wide-legged standing forward fold pose. The caption reads "I connect with what I need within the pose."

Falling over while attempting crow pose, and saying "Ahhh!" The caption reads "Through practice, I give myself permission to fail."

In goddess pose, but with one hand up and one hand down. The caption reads "I find my own personal take on the poses."

In star pose, with arms stretching out long and my hair sticking straight up. The box is broken. The caption reads "I experiment, breaking free of constraints to make it mine."

In the pages of an open book, I'm doing tree pose on one side and on the other side reads "Yoga can't be experienced by reading about it."

The cover of a book, with a person in scorpion pose and the caption: "Or by looking at pictures of people posing."

A closeup of my face with eyes closed. My mouth has visible breath coming out of it. The caption reads "I need to actually embody the poses. Breathe in them."

I'm painting, holding a paint palette and with drops of paint all over me. The caption reads "Like creative practice, I need to get my hands dirty to prgoress."

In standing forward fold. The caption says "Yoga is a full-body, mind, and spirit experience"

In standing forward fold, looking at a ringing phone. The caption says "I get into a flow. It's impossible to multitask."

In mountain pose, with a closeup of my chest. On my chest is a battery charging icon. The caption reads "Through this flow, I cultivate energy and strength to take off the mat."

I'm sitting at a table and focussing on art, while two children are playing in the background and yelling "fight!" The caption reads "Into my life, and into my creative practice."

I'm throwing a clay pot on a wheel. The caption says "As an artist, I'm always developing my practice. I practice my creativity."

In mountain pose with prayer hands, bowing. The caption reads "But... this is where my creative and yoga practices differ"

Looking at a framed artwork on the wall. In the frame are the words "A work of art can be completed and displayed."

In a seated twist, with various poses in the distance behind me: cat pose, downward-facing dog, and upward-facing dog. The caption reads "But yoga practice is never done. The journey is the goal."

About this work

I’ve been practicing yoga regularly for about 12 years now, and daily for the last few. Through this daily yoga practice, I’ve felt a strong connection between the practice and my creative practice. I wanted to explore this through the form of comic memoir, much like my previous work, The Band.

I’m inspired by many artists, including Liana Finck, Art Spiegelman, Lynda Barry, and Austin Kleon. For this topic, I was inspired by Alison Bechdel’s process, and in particular her book “The Secret To Superhuman Strength.”

Process

I created this comic on the iPad Pro, using an Apple Pencil and the Procreate app.

Process details:

I wrote the story and separated it out into story beats.
As I had already determined the best publication format for The Band, I decided to use the same size and aspect ratio for the panels of this comic.
I decided on a colour palette for the project, which was from the book Traditional Colors of Japan.
I recorded several videos of myself practicing yoga, from various angles. I then captured freeze-frames from these videos and sketched the poses to use in the panels.
I sketched thumbnails for the panels. These are very small and very loose. The main intention is to try some ideas for layout, and pacing of the story across panels, which is also very important.

Once I was satisfied with the thumbnail sketches, I set up a Procreate file for each panel of the comic.
I then sketched and re-sketched in the bigger panel size, eventually laying down the final linework and colour. I varied the background colours for different “chapters” of the story.
My 12-year-old son is a very creative artist and writer. I had him read through the finished comic and give feedback on some panels that could be improved.
I exported the panels from Procreate, then used Squoosh to quickly convert them to WEBP format in smaller file sizes.
As I uploaded the panels to WordPress, I added in descriptive alt text for accessibility.

Project Comments

8 responses to “Yoga and Creativity”

Jenna Westbrook

10 December 2024

This is so amazing!! I love the comic and your video presentation was a great supplement. I’m inspired to do more yoga everyday.

Reply
1. Tess Needham
  
  11 December 2024
  
  Thanks Jenna!
  
  Reply
raulanton

10 December 2024

Thank you for sharing this.
I love the way in which you set the scenario and even the pace with the background. Your work reminded me of A Taste of Chlorine by Bastien Vivès ==> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/10/bastien-vives-taste-chlorine-review

Reply
1. Tess Needham
  
  11 December 2024
  
  Thanks, Raul! I haven’t heard of Bastien Vivès but adding it to my list now. 🙂
  
  Reply
Amanda Riu

10 December 2024

I really loved reading your journey through words and pictures. So inspiring!

Reply
1. Tess Needham
  
  11 December 2024
  
  Thank you, Amanda!
  
  Reply
Sasha Stone

13 December 2024

Your comics are brilliant, Tess, and this is no exception. It could be a published book! The flow of your story, the colors, the humor and the depth. I love it so much!!

You mentioned in your video wanting to create a memoir in this format. Have you read any of Kristen Radtke’s work? If not, I think you would love it: http://kristenradtke.com/publications

Reply
1. Tess Needham
  
  15 December 2024
  
  Wow, thank you so much, Sasha!
  
  That’s funny that you mention Kristen Radtke. I haven’t seen much of her stuff, but only yesterday I was looking at this amazing comic of hers. Great timing! I will definitely check out more. Thanks for the recc!
  
  Reply